Prompt for Line of Text

This Subprogram will prompt for the Operator to supply a complete line of text. The specified Prompt will only be issued if the Operator has not anticipated the input request.

Short Name Calling Sequence

         STATUS = UIGTLI(PROMPT,LINE[,LENGTH])

Long Name Calling Sequence

         STATUS = UI_GET_LINE(...)

Input Arguments

         PROMPT (Character)     Prompt Text
         LINE   (Character)     Default Line of Text

Output Arguments

         LINE   (Character)     Response Line of Text
         LENGTH (Integer)       Response Length (Optional)

Function Value

UI__SUCCESS ) Success UISUCC )

UI__NOT_INITIALIZED ) Package not Initialized UININI )

UI__DEFAULTED ) Input Defaulted UIDFLT )

UI__TRUNCATED ) Input Text String UITRUN ) Truncated

UI__INPUT_ABORTED ) Input Aborted (Ctrl-Z) UIABRT )

UI__NO_INPUT ) No Input present UINOIN )

UI__END_OF_FILE ) End-of-File detected UIEOF ) in Batch Mode Note:

1. The prompt will only be issued if there is no more text in the current Input Buffer, otherwise any remaining text in the Input Buffer will be taken as the response. The Application Programmer may explicitly flush the Input Buffer prior to making this call to ensure that a complete Line is accepted (see UI_FLUSH_INPUT).
2. All text is converted to upper case unless it is in the form of a quoted text string, in which case the case as typed is maintained.
3. The UI__TRUNCATED Function Value signifies that the text string was longer than the LINE Argument and that truncation has taken place.
4. The LENGTH Argument is optional and, if present, will return the length (in characters) of the response text (ignoring trailing spaces or tabs) after truncation.
5. The UI__DEFAULTED Function Value indicates that the User just accepted the default value (by typing RETURN only).
6. The UI__INPUT_ABORTED Function Value indicates that the User typed Ctrl-Z to abort input. This is only implemented on a VAX/VMS system. It is an informational function value only, no error message will be reported.
7. UI__NO_INPUT will only be returned in Asynchronous Mode (if both UI_INPUT_MODE and UI_GET_MODE have signified Asynchronous Input Mode) and indicates that the User has not yet specified any Input. The Application Program should poll by either calling this Subprogram repeatedly or by calling UI_TEST_INPUT repeatedly until this indicates that some Input has been received. In the latter case (UI_TEST_INPUT called) this Subprogram should be recalled in order to decode the input. UIPACK is setup by default such that this subprogram always acts synchronously unless a prior call to UI_GET_MODE has been made within the Application Program.
8. The UI__END_OF_FILE Function Value indicates that an End-of-File was detected on the main Input Stream in Batch or non-interactive mode where Input is not taken from a terminal but rather from a file. It is a severe error and therefore causes an error to be reported (unless this has been inhibited by a prior call to UI_ERROR_LEVEL).
9. The Prompt string will only be issued if the response is not already present in the input line. Thus this subprogram may be used by itself to accept input values, as part of the general decoding of a Command Line to prompt for Parameters associated with the present Verb, or to prompt for and pickup the value associated with a Qualifier.
10. The format of the Prompt is:-

    Prompt String [xxx]:
    

    where ``xxx" is the current default text string as specified by the LINE Argument on entry to this subprogram.